Ashk Dahlén. Zarathustra: Sånger. Den äldsta iranska diktningen, tolkad av Ashk Dahlén
Ashk Dahlén. Zarathustra: Sånger. Den äldsta iranska diktningen, tolkad av Ashk Dahlén. Umeå : h:ström - Text & Kultur AB, 2023, 198 p.
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1This book presents the Old Avestan texts (Yasna 28-53) translated – or rather, interpreted (tolkad) – into Swedish by Ashk Dahlén, with the exception of Yasna 42 and Yasna 52, which according to Dahlén are a later composition (p. 195). The most ancient parts are the so-called Gāthās, presumably composed by Zarathustra himself, of which the Ahunauuaitī gāthā (Yasna 28-34, Livets sång or “Life’s song”) is considered as a sort of introduction to the whole of the Avesta. Interspersed into the Gāthās is the Yasna haptaŋhāiti (Hyllning i sju delar, “Tribute in Seven Parts”, Yasna 35-41), which does not belong to the Gāthās and treats subjects not found in the other hymns (p. 25).
2There is an extensive preface, which discusses possible interpretations of the hymns and deals with historical, philosophical, religious and methodological issues. This preface is the key to understanding Dahlén’s interpretation of the texts. While he points out the difficulties of defining the genre (spiritual lyrics, laudatory poem or didactic poem) of the Old Avestan texts based on modern literary concepts (p. 12), he emphasises their philosophical character in several places. The following passage summarises, in my view, the guidelines of Dahlén’s approach: “It is, of course, not unproblematic to call Zarathustra a philosopher and even less the originator of philosophy. He does not present his thoughts in a strictly logical manner but allows them to emerge indirectly, speaking in parables and aphorisms. His philosophy [...] is reflected in his conviction that physical reality corresponds to [...] an archetypal world of ideas, which he praises in poetic metaphors” (p. 15). The interpretation of such “poetic metaphors” and even whether they are metaphors at all is, as far as I know, a contested issue, so that somewhat more extensive explanations and more detailed references to scholarly literature would have been desirable, but since the book is addressed to a wider audience, there is no systematic annotation, and the bibliographical references are rather general in scope.
3Divine entities are referred to by descriptive names in Swedish (while the Avestan terms are otherwise often used as proper names in translations or discussions of the Avesta or of the Zoroastrian religion in general). For example, the supreme god Ahura Mazdā is called Den höga visheten (“The High Wisdom”), Aŋra mainiiu, Det destruktiva tänkesättet (“The destructive mindset”), the Aməša Spəntas, De odödliga välgörande (“The immortal benefactors”) etc. These names are explained in a “Glossary of terms” (Ordförklaringar, p. 178-191), which includes important philosophical and religious questions connected to the entities. Given the specific character of this translation, it is essential that readers familiarise themselves with these terms prior to reading the hymns, as otherwise they may be hard to understand.
4There are some notes to the translation (Kommentarer, p. 159-177), many of which provide the Avestan term with a literal translation. In some cases, more detailed explanations would have been helpful, especially when the translation provided in the hymns are different from the literal translations. For example, Dahlén indicates that upplysning (“illumination”, “enlightenment”) in Y 28.1 (p. 160), med utsträckta händer och med vördnad åkallar jag först dig och ber om upplysning genom ditt livgivande medvetande i Sanningens ljus (“with outstretched hands and with reverence I first call upon you and ask for enlightenment through your life-giving consciousness in the light of Truth”) renders an Avestan word literally meaning “support” (stöd). Since the verse speaks of the “light of Truth”, the rendering of “support” as “enlightenment” or “illumination” seems logical, but it remains, as in so many other cases, an interpretation. At 29.7, Dahlén characterises the address of the High Wisdom (or Ahura Mazdā) to the Cow’s Soul (Kosjälan or Gəuš uruuān) as ord med budskap om livskraft och hälsa (“words with a message about vitality and health”). In a note to this passage (p. 167), Dahlén explains that “vitality and health” corresponds to Avestan words literally meaning “milk and fat”, but these metaphors would not be “readily accessible” (omedelbart åtkomlig) to a modern reader. Thus, the reader should be aware that the translations provided all follow a certain pattern of interpretation. Even if some interpretations can be contested, the book smooths the path towards understanding an otherwise hermetic text. For readers interested in the history of Philosophy, reading this book is a most inspiring experience, the parallelism with, for example, Plato’s theory of ideas having been indicated in the preface (p. 15).
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Référence électronique
Bernard Christophe, « Ashk Dahlén. Zarathustra: Sånger. Den äldsta iranska diktningen, tolkad av Ashk Dahlén », Abstracta Iranica [En ligne], Volume 45 | 2023, document 8, mis en ligne le 30 décembre 2025, consulté le 15 janvier 2026. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/abstractairanica/57569 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/15h3k
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